LOVELESS, not so much
by Mickis
Summary: Genesis could use more female appreciation, as in the guy needs more women in his life. This is for everyone who happens to be on the lookout for just that.


**Disclaimer:** The Final Fantasy characters belong to Square Enix, those lucky bastards. The only thing I can claim is Tasha, and that's kind of a consolation prize in comparison, don't ya think?

**A/N:** _I typed up this scene because I think Genesis is severely lacking romance in the world of fan fiction. Most stuff I've come across is slash, and while that may be fine for some people, it's just not my cup of tea._

_I didn't have the energy to type up an entire story, so I just thought of the basic plot and wrote down a scene that's smack in the middle of it. To, you know, get to the good part. But it's all here, perfectly good explanations of general backgrounds and events leading up to this, woven into the story, to make the female character feel fleshed out and not so much like a stranger. So, that said, you should have no trouble seeing the whole picture of it. I don't think I'll continue with it, but we'll see. If you think it could be worth the time... Yeah, I don't know. Maybe. Either way, I'd love to hear what you think! Enjoy._

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**LOVELESS... not so much**

by

Mickis

**Genre:** Romance/Humor

**Language:** English

**Fan Fiction Rated:** T

**Summary:** _Genesis could use more female appreciation, as in the guy needs more women in his life. This is for everyone who happens to be on the lookout for just that._

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"You don't have to walk us all the way to the door," Zack let out with a small sigh, his steps hesitant as though he was about to slow his pace. He turned halfway around to look at Angeal with mild uncertainty. "Seriously. I think we can take it from here."

Walking closely behind Zack down the narrow, carpeted hallway, Angeal used both arms to adjust his student and make sure he was facing straight ahead. His steps were brisk and unforgiving in front of me. "After tonight," the man spoke sternly, "I should consider hiring a babysitter for the two of you."

"Uh... I'm twenty-three, you know," I remarked, causing him to send me an unimpressed look over his shoulder. "Don't you think I'm a little too old for babysitters?"

"Yes," he replied before turning back to stare ahead of him. "And as twenty-three, you should know better."

Touché. I walked right into that one, didn't I? Having been around Angeal for as long as I had, I should have known a comment like that would only leave me open to more lecturing.

"In fact," he added as he thought of something clever and condescending, causing me to mentally grunt in annoyance. "Zack is still a minor, so if you think about it you should have been looking after him."

Bad role model, I scolded myself inwardly. No corrupting the minors, even if this particular situation pretty much had been the other way around.

"When you're in SOLDIER, it's not like they're checking for ID:s," Zack dryly commented, most likely a little upset for being referred to as a minor. Being only seventeen years old, he was considerably younger than the rest of us, and it seemed to bother him every time he was reminded of the fact.

"On the next company event, they probably should," Angeal retorted, and I caught Genesis smirk where he walked on my right. He hadn't said much since we left the banquet, but judging by the occasional grin and chuckle at my expense, he seemed more than a little amused by the whole situation, which had in a way gotten out of hand, I suppose.

"In fact," Angeal then added as an afterthought. "After tonight, I wouldn't be surprised if you're required to bring your identification to the table for future events."

I stared at his back as he paced down the hall, practically pushing Zack ahead of him towards the door to his apartment. It seemed guys like Angeal never took the night off. Even though we were a bit… intoxicated – I'll admit – we were both perfectly capable of walking home to the SOLDIER apartment complex. It took like ten minutes, although probably a bit longer in our current state. But our constant giggling had made it somewhat difficult to convince Angeal we'd do fine on our own. In all honesty, he probably feared we wouldn't head straight home but hit up some bar on the town or something.

He was such a worrywart.

The night had started out harmless enough, as they all do. ShinRa was having this company dinner thing, where they had taken the opportunity to pat their employees on their backs for their hard work the past year. For the most part it had been upper-class employees patting each other's backs, such as Heidegger and Palmer, but the respected elite SOLDIER group had been mentioned as well. In fact, Sephiroth had seemed somewhat uncomfortable having to stand in front of everyone to receive his little kiss-ass speech from the President. Well no, he actually looked very professional throughout the whole thing, I'm sure only his closest friends were able to tell he felt even the slightest bit uncomfortable with the attention.

Anyway, the First Class SOLDIERs were honored enough to sit up with the big shots at their table, while myself – being Third – as well as the Second Class SOLDIERs were placed further down the dining room, filling up a couple of impressively long tables in total. Since there weren't any nametags on the table, I chose to sit next to Zack, who I usually hung out with. Seemed innocent enough, right?

Right.

I had never been to one of these shindigs and didn't know what to expect, but it turned out it was kind of stiff. After the announcements and all that jazz, a humongous flock of waiters and waitresses burst onto the scene to serve everyone their dinner. It was a three-course deal. Very fancy.

Silverware, formal wear and the whole shebang.

In spite of this major letdown (even though I wasn't sure what I truly had been expecting at the annual banquet), Zack and I were both in a good mood. It didn't take long for us to catch on to the fact that the waiters were forced to cater to our every wish. Zack, the sneaky bastard, started making them refilling my glass of white whine, even when it wasn't empty. In truth it was my own fault for being dumb enough to blurt out to him that I didn't like wine. But I responded to his little joke by giving him the ever so classic stare that spelled: 'Oh, it is _on_.' Naturally, from then on whenever one of them happened to pass our table, either Zack or myself was quick to stop them with a simple "Excuse me? Would you be so kind to refill his/her drink?" The more polite and formal we succeeded in presenting ourselves, the better. Strangely, this little inside joke became funnier and funnier each time we managed to catch hold of a waiter, and before we knew it we were both pretty smashed.

I really hadn't expected to get that drunk, because the wine tasted pretty weak in my opinion. However, it had been a while since I had last been drinking. Ever since I had joined SOLDIER I'd been living a pretty wholesome life, actually. Perhaps I was more sensitive to the stuff than I had figured. Or perhaps the wine I was used to was like flyweight compared to the stuff they had here in Midgar.

Anyway, it wasn't long into the dinner before people's eyes were drawn to our table. It's not like we were going crazy and danced on top of it or anything, but there were lots of giggling and joking between us, and I suppose we were being pretty loud in comparison to the rest of the farts at that party.

Later, though, once dinner was over and you weren't physically tied to your chair, I ran into Reno. He seemed pretty happy about the amount of alcohol Zack and I had consumed and was probably the only Turk at his table that hadn't looked at us in utter annoyance over the course of the evening. I could only imagine the thoughts Tseng must have had about us, ruining the good reputation of the company like that. Although I guess Vice President Rufus looked entertained enough, as well. But that came as no surprise to me, because it seemed he decided to like everything his father disliked, just to spite him.

Anyway, by the time it was decided that we should retire for the night (re: Angeal and a somewhat indifferent Genesis came up and dragged us out of there as soon as the waiters had taken away our empty dessert plates), we managed to catch quite a few disapproving looks on our way out. I was a happy drunk at the time, so it didn't really bother me, but I was sure I'd feel a tad more uneasy by next week whenever I'd be forced to run into them while completely sober. I dreaded having to stand in the elevator with on of them. Talk about your awkward situations.

Reaching the door to my apartment, I turned to my left to face it, opening the incredibly small handbag I'd been forced to carry around the entire night. It was a simple enough black little thing, the fabric giving off a faint glitter. To the untrained eye it probably looked fancy enough, but my wallet and I knew it was a cheap piece of shit. It was a good thing none of my friends from back home could see me now. They knew how much I resented those miniature handbags and would never let me live it down if they caught me carrying one around. It had its benefits, though, I realized, where it didn't take long to dig out my keys. In fact, it was pretty much the only thing that could fit inside the damned thing.

Fiddling with my keys for a moment before settling for the right one, I drunkenly aimed for the keyhole in front of me, sensing I had quite the mission ahead of me. This could get embarrassing, I quickly realized. In fact it was taking longer than it should have, and I hoped Genesis had the courtesy to shut up and let me make a complete fool out of myself in awkward silence.

"Do you need help with that?"

I felt my face twist into a frown, one he couldn't see of course where I was standing with my back to him, hopelessly jingling with my keys, brown locks of iron-curled hair falling into my face to further conspire against my unreliable vision. For some reason the thing just refused to slide inside the keyhole, and it was way past embarrassing at this point and well into 'I'm never going to live this down, am I?'

"No," I spat, accidentally jerking the key up against the wooden surface of the door, leaving a visible scratch in its trail.

"Just give me," he said, bumping me to the side by stepping into view, snatching my key-chain out of my clumsy grip. In just a short second the door was magically unlocked and open, revealing the darkness inside that was my apartment.

Glaring at him through the corner of my eye, I caught his smirk; it wasn't hard to tell the man was disgustingly pleased with himself. I quickly stepped over the threshold and hit the light switch on the left side of the door, introducing both kitchen and living room into light, being that they were pretty much one and the same.

Pinching the teeny tiny handbag in my armpit, I leaned over and proceeded to fiddle with the straps of my shoes before getting any further. They were black and carried a similar appearance to the handbag, obviously intended to match, but I was seriously beginning to regret buying them. These high-heeled bitches had been a pain in my ass the entire night, and I couldn't wait to get them off. Unfortunately for my poor balance, high-heeled shoes in combination with my spot on imitation of a flamingo that was under the influence of alcohol, was not a match made in heaven. I stumbled ungraciously to the side, Genesis there instantly to catch me by my elbow.

I could almost _feel_ his grin mocking me and I did not like it.

He gently pushed me back on my feet, and with him still steadying me I managed to undo the strap of my inanimate enemy. Switching to my bare foot, it was a hell of a lot easier to remain standing, and he seemed to notice as he let me go and walked past me into the small apartment, aiming for the kitchen area on the left as he did.

Having taken off the evil piece of footwear, I threw them both to the floor in irritation, turning around to shut the door behind me. With the purse in my left grip, I made it over to the living room couch with hardly any trouble at all, now that I was off those quite frankly _lethal_ heels. Seriously. They should have come with a warning label or something.

Plopping down in exhaustion, I dumped the pathetically small handbag at my side and simply stared ahead of me at the black screen of my tiny television set. It bothered me how small it was. I had been meaning to buy a bigger one and move this tiny piece of doll furniture into the matching tiny bedroom, but more pressing financial matters such as food and shampoo and stuff kept getting in the way of my new TV.

Hearing the tap getting turned on in the kitchen, I realized Genesis didn't need the usual 'Come in. Make yourself at home.' Not that I had ever been too big on formal stuff. In fact, I was still having a hard time addressing my superiors by 'Sir'. My boss, Lazard, was the Director of SOLDIER. I had been informed that was a big deal, and I caught myself forgetting the sacred word in every other sentence, leaving it trailing behind in a way that made it glaringly obvious how awkward I was using the title. He would make a small face whenever it happened, and I had even caught him hiding a smile behind his hand on occasion. Clearly he wasn't offended, so that was good, but it was still a tad embarrassing on my part. Sephiroth, on the other hand, him I knew well enough for him to have most likely given up entirely on me ever addressing him by his title again. He seemed cool about it, though, as long as I didn't swap his name with a nickname. It had taken me a while to feel comfortable enough around him do attempt such a thing. He didn't seem like the type who would go for it, but eventually I did muster up the courage to try one out. I learned firsthand that 'Sephiman' only resulted in Death by Glare, so it wasn't hard to remember to stick to his full name in the future.

Sephiroth had been the poor unfortunate bastard they had given the punishment of training me. It wasn't your typical Third Class SOLDIER treatment, of course, receiving lessons from Sephiroth, but the President seemed determined for me to rise quickly among the ranks.

From a political standpoint, the President had decided it would be good for his company to have a female SOLDIER. Before I showed up, a woman was completely unheard of. Not that they wanted me for my feminine looks and silky hair (something they had enough of among their male SOLDIERs anyway). I had originally signed up to be one of ShinRa's many lab-rats. It wasn't exactly a childhood dream of mine, but ever since I had moved to Midgar I'd been having some... financial difficulties, if you will. Basically I really needed the money. When they had been running these standard tests on my blood and cell samples, Professor Hojo – a real life mad scientist if you ever laid eyes on one – had discovered something unusual.

It turned out I was immune to magic. Don't ask why. Maybe I was missing a chromosome or something? If Hojo ever did find out the reason, I wasn't informed of it. Actually, it wasn't that I was incapable of using materia – I had quite a knack for it, it turned out – no, the big deal was that materia couldn't be used on _me_. For some reason I remained completely immune to all magic spells. Unfortunately that left me immune to the restore materia as well, which was sort of a downer when you were training to be a SOLDIER. Luckily potions and elixirs still worked, even though the effect was somewhat weak compared to the result of most people, and Sephiroth had made sure my combat training focused mostly on defense and awareness of my opponents.

Actually, because of my little handicap, it had initially been suggested that I learned marksmanship. The Turks had discussed taking me in as a trainee and while they were nice and all to hang around, I knew well enough about their line of work to know it wasn't a job I aspired for. But Hojo thought distancing myself from my enemy would keep me out of direct harm better than hand to hand combat with a sword would. I suppose he was worried his new experiment would get K.I.A. However, the President had the final word and he wasn't about to waste his political pawn working behind the scenes where no one would notice her, so it was ultimately decided that I should enter the SOLDIER program. And when I say decided, I mean: without me having any kind of say in it. One day I just got pulled into a meeting, a contract and a pen placed in front of me with the simple but frighteningly efficient command: "Sign here." But it was better than being stuck in the lab, wearing scrubs all the time.

The careful sound of shoes against my laminate floors caused me to look over my right, catching Genesis coming towards me with a glass of water in his hand – the only beverage my apartment had to offer at the moment. It was getting closer to the end of the month and I had pretty much spent my last gil on the outfit I had on for the night. Had I known this banquet was coming up, I would have saved up for it... probably. But it wasn't something Lazard had felt important to mention. He had only just brought it up during our weekly update on Monday this week, and even then it was something he just casually let slip before getting into more important matters such as missions and training. I hadn't heard much of it – obviously – where I'd been stuck on the depressing fact that I had to go shopping – a task that proved quite difficult when you didn't have much money. And it wasn't like I was surrounded by female friends that could point me in the direction of a shop that sold cheap yet fancy looking formal dresses. Apparently our presence was obligatory at the event, so was it really that much to ask that the company would offer to pay for the clothes? Or at the very least supply them, like they did our uniforms. Then again, it was ShinRa, so I mean, yeah... What would you expect? The name was pretty much a synonym for 'greed'.

I wondered if Genesis had bought his outfit, as well, or if he simply had the thing lying around. After all, he'd been with ShinRa way longer than I had. Maybe he went to these types of company thingies every other month? I really had no idea.

It was odd seeing him without his SOLDIER uniform and trademark red coat, and I had never been much for fancy suits, but the words 'you clean up nicely' had passed my consciousness more than once that night. It was a black suit – as was the perfectly ironed shirt underneath it – and the slightly shiny material looked like something a movie star would wear to one of those award shows. Admittedly, I was hardly qualified to guess, but it looked expensive enough. He didn't wear a bowtie or even a tie, but the collar of the shirt was cut in such a way there really didn't seem to be any need for one. I noticed his hair seemed redder in contrast to all the black he was wearing. Whereas when he wore his red coat the hair paled in comparison, making it look more like a light shade of auburn as opposed to red.

Catching myself staring I quickly looked away and straightened myself on the couch, folding my right leg over my left one, while tugging at the choking material of my dress. I had always felt slightly uncomfortable in dresses – exposed – and ever since I got here I'd worn practically nothing but manly type looking uniforms and occasionally jeans, making me feel even more out of place in the cursed thing. It was a pretty dress, though. The color was a pale green, almost mint green, and the fabric was stretchy and tight. The whole thing snaked around my body and ended right below my knees, leaving my pale, skinny legs peeking out from underneath. It was held up by thin shoulder straps, barely wide enough to properly cover the black straps of the bra underneath them.

I had felt really beautiful when checking out myself in the mirror that one last time before hurrying out of my apartment earlier that evening, and more than one guy had commented on it during the night. It was quite a contrast from the SOLDIER getup that I usually wore around them. But recovering from the little drinking adventure I'd shared with Zack, as I was, the confidence had oddly taken off elsewhere. My makeup was probably smudged and my eyes most likely looked tired and droopy at this point. But such was life when you gave in to the expression: 'Party hardy'.

Genesis took a seat next to me on my right, unbuttoning the only button that was keeping his jacket together, and I glanced up to meet his eyes as he handed the glass of water to me.

"You'll probably need this," he advised solemnly. "If you want to be able to get up in the morning."

"Thanks," I said, accepting the cold glass with my right hand. "Although I'm pretty sure I'll be hung over either way."

He gave out a short snort of quiet laughter and I took the time to swallow a few mouthfuls of water, lowering the glass to my lap as I'd done so. It was quiet then, and it made me suddenly realize this was the first time he'd actually been to my place, and for some reason the thought was making me a little uncomfortable. Not in a 'oh shit I should've cleaned up in here' sort of way, but more like 'crossing the line into private territory here' uncomfortable. I quickly spoke up to mask my growing feeling of uneasiness,

"It's a good thing I'm not working tomorrow. I'm gonna sleep in till like... four."

Genesis turned to look at me with an incredulous expression, as if my statement had been a ridiculous exaggeration.

"I'm serious," I insisted. "First meal tomorrow is gonna be dinner."

He responded with a half-smile as he held eye contact, leaning further into the couch. "Certain others have to attend a meeting by nine tomorrow," he revealed.

"Seriously?" I asked, earning a nod in response.

"Apparently Lazard has to go over last night's events with the Firsts."

"That's harsh," I told him. "I mean, not only on a Saturday, but one would think even a guy like Lazard would need a day off after a company party."

"Why would he?" Genesis retaliated. "I'm pretty sure you and Zack were the only ones partying. In fact," he said, his eyes holding an unmistakable glint of evil. "I'd be surprised if your names don't come up on the meeting."

"Hah. Hah," I mocked dryly. "It wasn't that bad."

"Actually," he narrowed his eyes, as if to say he meant business. "It was. Not that I minded. Your inappropriate behavior was the only thing keeping me from falling asleep in my seat tonight. The people at my table were pretty stiff, to say the least."

"I'm glad I was able to entertain you," I spat jokingly at him. "Either way, for future company parties-"

"It was a formal dinner," he quickly interjected.

"Whatever," I mumbled. "Next time I'll know better than to sit next to Zack."

"So you're blaming the whole thing on him, are you?" he questioned, giving me an unconvinced look.

"Well, he was egging me on like the place would run out of drinks or something. Besides," I added as an afterthought. "I'm not _that_ drunk."

"You weren't able to open the door, just now."

"Yeah well, I've been far worse. Trust me. Small potatoes." It was true. Sad, but true. Luckily drunken embarrassments were something you got to leave behind when moving to new city like I had. There was no one around to spill the information, unless I for some mentally insane reason decided to come clean about it myself. And I seriously doubted he would take the time to track down my friends from my hometown to interrogate them about my drinking experiences.

"I would have paid good money to see that," he said, grinning slyly at me. Maybe I had been too quick in assuming he wouldn't go searching my closet for embarrassing skeletons? I punched him playfully in the side to convey the message to back off, which didn't accomplish in anything but him slipping into careful laughter. "What? You should be glad I'm not scolding you for your inappropriate behavior."

"I guess," I said, holding back a smile as I leaned back into the couch. "Poor Zack. Angeal must be like minutes into his honor speech by now."

"Most likely," Genesis agreed, settling down against the couch, seeming convinced I was done punching him, if you could even call it that.

I lifted my glass to drink some more water, reminding myself I needed it because the taste of it was something I quite literally had to force down. I had always hated water. The only time I ever drank any was when I was practically passing out from exhaustion, which had been happening more frequently since I'd joined the likes of SOLDIER. I was pretty sure Sephiroth got some sadistic pleasure out of watching me crumble to the gym floor in a heap of wobbly limbs. He usually did a bang up job of hiding his smile behind his silver bangs, but when looking up at him from the ground it wasn't very hard to notice.

"Although I would brace myself for Sephiroth if I were you," Genesis spoke up, right as I started feeling the uncomfortable silence again. I quickly turned my head to look at him, raising my glass to have another sip. He merely went on, "He's gonna want to add his two cents on Monday."

I swallowed before speaking, "I just hope he won't pull the 'I'm really disappointed in you' card. Those are the worst. I always feel like a kid whenever I get that speech."

"Then maybe you should call in sick Monday," he suggested, looking like he was enjoying himself quite a bit at my expense.

"Yeah, brilliant plan there," I snorted sarcastically, earning an honest smile in return.

We drifted off into silence after that, still holding eye contact. And even though it wasn't for very long it still made me uncomfortable, because once again my drunken brain took notice of his appearance in that black suit. Luckily for my pale cheeks I had never been one to blush, but I had been known to flash a nervous grin on occasion. He had probably known me long enough to recognize a grin like that. Averting my eyes and shrugging off those thoughts before they had a chance of going anywhere, I uncrossed my legs and sat up straight. With the nearly empty glass in hand, I reached across him, aiming for the end table standing next to him by his end of the couch.

He seemed to catch on quickly and took the glass from my hand, turning away from me to set it down on the table on his right. I caught his scent then and noticed how his cologne seemed more distinctive tonight than usually. I realized it was because he had dressed up. On the rare occasions we'd been sparring, the cologne was always mixed with the scent of leather and sometimes a trail of sweat. But tonight I could smell neither of those. If anything the musky fragrance of his cologne was slightly overpowered by the fresh scent of soap and shampoo. The only way I could describe it was that he smelled like he'd just stepped out of the shower.

As he turned back to face me, I realized I'd been caught in my thoughts because as it was I was still leaning in his direction. He immediately caught hold of me with his eyes, looking straight at me. I froze then, probably the spitting image of a deer caught in headlights, and I consciously held my breath as I struggled to hold his attentive gaze.

The closeness of our faces hadn't slipped unnoticed by me, where perhaps another head could fit in-between us, and nervousness began to stir at the pit of my stomach. I had no idea how much time really did pass in that moment, but it felt like the seconds were crawling by as neither of us said or did anything but stare. Then, I caught his eyes momentarily slipping to my lips, and I felt something flutter in my chest. It must have been the alcohol, because sober I would have never done it.

But as it turned out I was feeling brave tonight.

Leaning closer, I shut my eyes and pressed my lips to his. They were soft and warm, and he didn't pull back like I had feared, but then he didn't really participate much either. He was simply there for me to taste. I allowed my kiss to linger for a second or two before I chickened out. However it had lasted just long enough to catch a hint of cherry. I pulled back then and opened my eyes just in time to catch him opening his, a flustered look of surprise in his mako blue gaze. Neither of us said a thing, but just stared at each other. My heart was starting to act up like crazy in my chest, and I was beginning to wonder if I had just fucked up. I was usually never the one to make the first move. Even though I had never actually been shot down, it was something I feared and therefore rarely took any risks. Feeling the way I did now, unsure and exposed, I remembered why I should stick to playing it safe.

Due to our close distance I felt his eyes darting between mine, even glancing at my lips a couple of times, and yet again time seemed to crawl ahead, suddenly making me feel incredibly sober. I had just about started mentally kicking myself when I to my surprise felt his lips closing over mine, the kiss carrying a bit more determination than mine had. My heart settled down quickly in my chest and left in its place a warm feeling that spread like fire inside me.

The kiss was quite slow and I responded accordingly, covering his lips with my own, feeling my hands twitch nervously in my lap, unsure of what to do with them. But as the kiss intensified I felt him cupping the left side of my face, his fingers burying themselves in my hair as he did, brushing past my ear. The noise of my hair scraping right against my ear brought new senses to life, and I heard him inhale sharply through his nose. As if by command, my left leg lifted itself on top of my right, allowing me to lean further into his touch. My previously nervous hands seemed to snap to attention as well and slid up his dressed up chest and behind his neck, entangling themselves in his surprisingly soft hair.

As a result of that, Genesis seemed to gain another ounce of courage and pressed harder against me, adding a hand to the small of my back and pulling me closer to him. I felt his warm tongue run over my bottom lip and opened up to catch it with my own, the kiss quickly deepening. One of my hands slid down to guide his neck into a more appropriate angle, allowing our bodies to lean even further into each other.

With his tongue filling up my mouth the taste of cherry intensified, in addition to a faint touch of alcohol. I realized he tasted of wine, and wondered what I must have tasted like, having drank a whole lot more than he had. Before I could elaborate any further on the thought, a sudden knock at my front door penetrated my brain. It was loud, short and unexpected, but it caused us to break apart immediately.

Glancing at each other for a short moment, we both turned our attention to the door as Angeal's voice called from outside,

"Tasha?"

Genesis turned back to glance at me then, and holding his eyes for a short moment I turned my attention back to the door. "…Yeah?" I called back, feeling like I'd been caught in the act by my parents or something.

"Is Genesis there with you?"

I turned to look at him and judging from the expression on his face, he seemed to share my feel of having been busted. "Yeah," he called back, seeming unsure of what to do.

"We should go," came Angeal's reply, this time in a tone that was more conversational than before. "Considering we've got that meeting tomorrow."

"Yeah," Genesis agreed, although he still remained seated on the couch, his eyes darting across the room in slight panic.

I got up then and walked across the room, opening the door while posting what I considered a somewhat professional expression on my face. Angeal gave me a brief smile once I'd opened, and I caught the sound of keys jingling.

"You left them in the door," he said, holding them out for me to take.

I couldn't help but grin nervously, only adding to the feeling of having been caught in the act, and standing there completely barefoot I suddenly realized how tall Angeal was in comparison to my pathetic five foot two. He literally towered over me on the threshold, although wearing a suit he didn't look quite as intimidating as he would have with that huge ass sword strapped to his back.

"Thanks," I told him, accepting my keys sheepishly. Of course I would be the dumbass that left them in the fucking door. Please do come in and rob the place.

Genesis then came up behind me, and I opened the door further and stepped aside, doing my best to avoid physical contact with the man, as if that would somehow trigger an alarm or something, blabbing about our little kiss back there to Angeal.

He slid past me quite effortlessly and before I knew it he was standing behind Angeal on the other side of the threshold, glancing at me nervously, never being able to hold my gaze for very long. It only worsened my growing instinct of having done something forbidden, as if it was against company policy or something.

"You should probably get yourself to bed," Angeal advised. "You and Zack will both need it if you wanna be able to get up in the morning."

"Tomorrow's Saturday," I told him, switching my weight to my other foot, taking slight cover behind my front door.

"Regardless, you're gonna want to sleep it off," Angeal said, giving me one of those looks that said 'I'm old and wise; I know best'. I felt like I shrank another inch or so, and flashed another nervous grin.

"Yeah," I replied, stepping back a little to maneuver the door. "I'll see you Monday."

Angeal nodded in agreement and took a step back, Genesis doing the same behind him, sending me another nervous glance as he did. "Good night," Angel then added as I proceeded to close the door.

"Night," I echoed, catching once last anxious glance from Genesis before the door was shut completely. I quickly turned the lock and turned to rest by back against the door, quietly letting out a slow breath, fearing they might catch it if I made too much of a sound.

Oh shit, I thought to myself as I fingered with the keys. What had I just done? The fact that Genesis and I had just kissed really sunk in, and I wasn't really sure how I felt about it. I had always thought the guy was good looking, because... well, he was. And the two of us seemed to get along better now than we had a few months ago. When I had first met him he hadn't exactly been my favorite person. He came off a bit untouchable, as though he thought he was way superior to me. Whenever he'd spoken it was always addressed to someone else in our company. We did hang with the same crowd, so his aloof behavior wasn't that hard to notice. It wasn't until Sephiroth organized for the two of us to spar together – to benefit the progress of my materia training – that he started speaking to me.

He did still have that superior vibe to him, but he actually proved to have a cheeky sense of humor, something I had began despairing I'd ever come across among the Firsts, with the constant exception of Sephiroth's hidden smiles. Admittedly so, Genesis' humor was of the slightly offensive kind, where he preferred to laugh _at_ me rather than _with_ me, but I could take it. And he never seemed offended when I dished out, either. Once that was established, he seemed to accept my presence. I was no longer the invisible girl hanging around the building, and eventually it reached the point where I considered him a friend.

Not in the sense that Zack was, of course. Zack was what I liked to call 'overly friendly'. He was the kind of guy that talked to everyone and never really picked up on uncomfortable vibes in situations, so it had always been easy and casual to be around him. Whereas with Genesis... Even though we did get along and tossed jokes between each other, there was always that tension that didn't seem to go away. It was never casual with him. It was no secret to myself that I kind of liked him, which explained the constant tension between us, but I would have never suspected I'd have the courage to kiss him like that. Much less for him to return the kiss!

Had I not been drunk, I would have never done it. Not that I was smashed at this point. Hardly. But I felt influenced enough to take the initiative to do something like that, and I wondered just how inappropriate it had been. A strong feeling of 'oh shit' had washed over me the instant Angeal knocked on the door, and it had proven to be quite easy to read Genesis' body language and figure out he felt the same way about it.

_Was_ there a company policy against ShinRa employees hooking up? Or maybe it went deeper than that. Maybe Genesis had a girlfriend or something that I didn't know about? For whatever reason, I got the feeling I had done something stupid, and if it came up I decided to blame it on the fact that I'd been drinking. Lame, yes. But what else was I supposed to do? Best thing would be to shrug it off like it was no big deal. 'Don't worry about it. It happens.'

But then... I didn't want to shrug it off. Not really.

That kiss had been really something. People kept talking about chemistry, and I knew there had been bucket loads of it on that couch. Probably still high on hormones, I couldn't help but want more.

Releasing another sigh in frustration, I realized I'd lie awake for a long time tonight, brooding about the unexpected event that had taken place in the safety of my own living room.

.

…Eeeend Scene.


End file.
